Line coupling connector for railway vehicles

ABSTRACT

A coupling device is attached to the end of an air or steam line of a railway vehicle for coupling the line to a corresponding line on a railway vehicle equipped with either a manually operated box coupler or an automatic central buffer coupler. The device comprises a cylindrical coupler head with a tubular line connection being attached at an angle to one end thereof and the other end having a sealable opening for connection to a line opening. A pair of diametrically opposed arms project radially outwardly from the coupler head with the ends of the arms having abutment surfaces which are engageable with openings in the wall surrounding an automatic central line couplet. One arm has a stop for supporting a protection flap in its open position and the other arm has a downwardly extending extension which rests upon a edge of a wall opening to position the coupling device. The device also has radial closure guides which are spaced and shaped to correspond with the closure guides on a manual line coupler and are positionable between the guide flanges partially surrounding a line opening on an automatic coupler.

United States Patent Baronnet et a].

[451 Aug. 15, 1972 [54] LINE COUPLING CONNECTOR FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES[73] Assignee: Knorr-Bremse KG, Berlin, Germany [22] Filed: April 1,1971 [2|] Appl. No.: 130,292

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary ExaminerDrayton E.Hoffman Attorney-Edmund M. Jaskiewicz ABSTRACT A coupling device isattached to the end of an air or steam line of a railway vehicle forcoupling the line to a corresponding line on a railway vehicle equippedwith either a manually operated box coupler or an automatic centralbuffer coupler. The device comprises a cylindrical coupler head with atubular line connection being attached at an angle to one end thereofand the other end having a scalable opening for connection to a lineopening. A pair of diametrically opposed arms project radially outwardlyfrom the coupler head with the ends of the arms having abutment surfaceswhich are engageable with openings in the wall surrounding an automaticcentral line couplet. One arm has a stop for supporting a protectionflap in its open position and the other arm has a downwardly extendingextension which rests upon a edge of a wall opening to position thecoupling device. The device also has radial closure guides which arespaced and shaped to correspond with the closure guides on a manual linecoupler and are positionable between the guide flanges partiallysurrounding a line opening on an automatic coupler.

6 Clainm, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTE SHEEI 2 [IF 2 FIG. 2

LINE COUPLING CONNECTOR FOR RAILWAY VEHICLES The present inventionrelates to a coupler device for air lines on a railway vehicle, moreparticularly, to such a device which is adapted to connect a line to arailway vehicle equipped with either an automatic central buffer coupleror a manually operated box coupler.

During a conversion period of railway rolling stock from the presentlyemployed manual hook coupling to the automatic central buffer couplingdifficulties may be encountered in connecting the various pipe lines,such as air and steam lines, of vehicles having different couplers. Sucha situation exists in Europe where the railroads have undertaken aprogram to standardize railway rolling stock to the automatic centralbuffer coupling. Railway vehicles which are provided with book draft ortraction couplers are generally equipped with a manually operated sleeveair coupler. Various forms of connector devices have been proposed inorder to connect a manually operated sleeve air coupler to a pipe lineof a railway vehicle equipped with an automatic central buffer couplerand, accordingly, with an automatic line coupler.

In the Patent of Addition No. 89,762 the end of a pipe line of a vehicleequipped with a hook coupler is divided and the divided ends areconnected by means of separate shut off valves to a sleeve air coupler.A shaped or molded element is suspended inthe head of the central buffercoupler so that it can betightly connected to the automatic line couplertherewith. This adapter arrangement is disadvantageous in that itrequires at least two shut off valves, two hose lines and couplingdevices in the form of a sleeve air coupler or a shaped element for eachend of the vehicle and for each pipe line. Normally, only one suchcoupler device is necessary for the connection of the pipe line. Theincreased number of the coupling devices restricts the movement ofrailroad personnel during coupling operations and presents difficultieswith respect to the arrangement of the coupler elements and in thecoupling of the railway vehicles provided with several pipe lines.

The Austrian patent application A ll 334-67 discloses an arrangement forconnecting the line of a railway vehicle provided with a hook coupler toa molded element that in turn is coupled to the automatic line couplerby means of a sleeve air coupler of conventional structure. According tothis disclosure the railway vehicle then requires only a single shut offvalve and hose line for each end of the vehicle and for each pipe line.If the vehicle is to be coupled to a vehicle having an automatic linecoupler the pipe line can be connected by means of a shaped or moldedelement. If the vehicle to be coupled is equipped with a sleeve aircoupler the line coupling is carried out after disconnecting the sleeveair coupler between the hose line and the shaped element by theconnection of the sleeve air coupler of the hose line with that of thevehicle to be coupled. As result, every coupling operation may requireseveral separate coupling steps depending upon the coupling equiptmentof the vehicle being coupled. In addition, the location of the shapedelement introduces difficulties where the coupling must be carried outwith a vehicle equipped with a sleeve air coupler since in such asituation the shaped element is free.

In this type of line coupling connector it is pointed out that theshaped element is retained on the automatic line coupler or on partsconnected thereto by means of retaining extensions where the shapedelement is coupled to such a coupler. In the event the draft couplerwhich connects the vehicles to each other should become uncoupled,excessive tensile stresses may occur in the line coupling connectorwhich remains coupled. Such stresses may result in the damage ordestruction of the line coupling connector and possibly bring about abreaking of the hose line.

It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to providea novel and improved device for coupling different types of linecouplers between railway vehicles.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device forquickly and easily connecting an air line on a railway vehicle to an airline on another railway vehicle equipped with either an automatic linecoupler or manually operated line coupler.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide such acoupling device which will be automatically become uncoupled upon beingsubjected to an excessive amount of tension force without being damaged.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a couplerof the type indicated having a small number of components which can beeasily stored when not in use and handled effectively and with noadditional parts being required when the device is coupled andeliminates additional coupling operations during the normal couplingprocedure.

The objects of the present invention are achieved and the disadvantagesof the prior art are eliminated by the present invention whichessentially comprises a connector for coupling lines between railwayvehicles. According to the present invention there is disclosed a devicefor couping an air line and the like to a railway vehicle equipped witha manually operated line coupler having radial closure guides orequipped with an automatic central line coupler having a line openingpartially surrounded by guide flanges and being closed by a pivotablymounted protection flap spring biased into the closed position. Theautomatic line coupler is mounted in an air coupling passage and theline opening is at substantially the same level as the coupler. Thedevice comprises a substantially cylindrical coupler head having one endattached to an air line and its other end having an opening with meansbeing disposed around said opening for sealingly connecting said openingto another line opening. The body opening is substantially perpendicularto the axis of the coupler head. First and second diametrically opposedarms project radially outwardly from the coupler head and the ends ofthe arms are engageable with wall openings in the coupling passage whenthe device is coupled thereto. The ends of the arms engage surfacesadjacent the wall openings with these surfaces facing away from thecoupling device. The surfaces are at substantially Other objects andadvantages of the present invention will be apparent upon reference tothe accompanying description when taken in conjunction with thefollowing drawings, which are exemplary, wherein;

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the coupling device coupling a pipe line toan automatic line coupler according to the present invention; and

FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view of the coupling device shown in FIG.1.

Proceeding next to the drawings wherein like reference symbols indicatethe same parts throughout the various views a specific embodiment of thepresent invention will be described in detail.

As may be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 a tubular hose connection 1 which leadsfrom a pipe to be coupled (not illustrated in the drawings) is attachedto a rear wall 3 of a cylindrical coupler head or body 2. The connection1 is inclined with respect to the longitudinal axis 4 of the couplerhead 2. A tubular coupling mouth piece 5 is slidably mounted on theother or front end of the coupler head 2 so as to be displaceable in theaxial direction and projects outwardly from the head 2. A sealing ring 6is carried within the mouth piece 5 and is sealingly engageable with aline opening of an automatic central line coupler. The sealing ring 6surrounds this line opening.

in the vicinity of its rear wall 3, the cylindrical coupler head 2 hasmounted thereon diametrically opposed radially projecting arms 7 and 8which extend laterally as may be seen in FIG. 2. The arm 7 is providedwith a shoulder 9 at its outer end and on the central portion of arm 7on the side turned toward the opening there is a projecting stop 10having an outwardly disposed lateral surface 1 l.

The arm 8 is bent obliquely in the forward direction with respect to thecoupler head 2 and is provided with a shoulder at its outer end whichforms an abutment surface 12 which is substantially parallel to thelongitudinal axis 4 of the coupler head 2. Adjacent to the abutmentsurface 12 the arm 8 is provided with a rearwardly directed abutmentsurface 13 which extends to the extreme end of the arm and is disposedobliquely in the forward-outward direction with respect to the lineopening on coupler head 2. The front face of arm 8 adjacent the outerend thereof is provided with a surface 14 which is inclined obliquelyrearwardly and outwardly again with respect to the line opening oncoupler head 2.

The coupler head 2 is also provided with diametrically opposed radialclosure guides 15 and 16 which are positioned forwardly of the arms 7and 8 in a direction toward the opening of coupler head 2 and alsoproject radially in the forward direction. The radial closure guidescorrespond to the radial closure guides of a manually operated couplerboth with respect to their structure and their position.

An automatic central buffer coupling having an automatic central linecoupler is illustrated in dot-dash lines with only those componentsbeing shown which are necessary for the description of the structure andoperation of the coupling device disclosed therein. The automatic linecoupler is provided with a coupling pipe 17 whose line opening isconnected tightly to the tubular element 5 of coupler head 2 by thesealing ring 6. Adjacent and partially surrounding line opening of line17 are guide flanges 18 which project outwardly beyond the line openingand are constructed and arranged in the conventional manner.

When the device is coupled in the position as shown in the drawings, theradial closure guides 15 and 16 grip between the guide flanges 18. Thecoupler head 2 is centered with respect to the automatic line coupler bya suitable shaping of the edge zones of the closure guides 15 and 16.

The automatic central line coupler is positioned in an air coupler duct19 of the central buffer coupling. On one side of the duct 19 there is awall 20 having an opening 21 through which passes a protection flap 11which is pivotably mounted about a vertical axis at its rear portion butnot shown in the drawings. The flap 22 is spring biased into the closedposition to cover the line opening of pipe 17. The outer end of arm 7extends into wall opening 2| and contacts an edge or boundary surface 23of the opening 21. The shoulder 9 is positioned a distance s from thewall 20. The protection flap 22 is shown in its pivoted-out positionwhich it occupies when the device is coupled to the automatic linecoupler. 1n the out position the edge of the flap 22 is supported on thelateral surface 11 of abutment 10 on the arm 7. in this position, theflap 22 holds the coupler head 2 in a position which is determined bythe abutment of surface 12 on the arm 8 on a lateral boundary surface 24of an opening 25 in a side wall 26 which defines the air coupling ductor passage 19 on the other side. The outer end of arm 8 extends beyondthe side wall 26 and its abutment surface 13 rests upon a surface 27adjacent the opening 25.

To uncouple the device from the automatic line coupler the coupler head2 is shifted laterally toward the side wall 20. The protection flap 22will also be shifted laterally under the action of the stop 10 movingagainst the spring force of the flap until the shoulder 9 abuts theouter surface of the side wall 20. After this lateral shifting of thecoupler head 2, the arm 8 can be disengaged from the wall opening 25 andmoved outwardly past side wall 24 in a direction toward the left asviewed in FIG. 1. The entire connector line coupling device can then beremoved from the automatic line coupler or from the central buffercoupling.

in the coupling operation, the coupling device is moved toward theautomatic line coupler at an angle from the side of the side wall 26.The stop 10 will engage the edge of the protection flap 22 and will movethis flap away to uncover the line opening of coupling pipe 17. Theouter end of arm 7 is then inserted into the wall opening 21 and the arm8 with its forward surface 14 is pressed against the side wall 26.Because of the oblique arrangement of the surface 14 the coupling devicewill be shifted in the direction toward side wall 20 until the outer endof arm 8 can pass beyond the boundary surface 24 and enter into the wallopening 25. After slightly shifting the coupling device toward side wall26 under the force of the spring acting upon flap 22 the coupling deviceassumes the position illustrated in FIG. 1.

if an excessive traction force should be exerted on the hose connection1 such as would occur if the draft coupling between vehicles isunintentionally uncoupled while the lines as described above remaincoupled and the uncoupled vehicles move apart from each other, inclinedabutment surface 13 will cause the coupler head 2 to shift laterallytoward side wall 20 until the arm 8 is released from the wall opening25. Because of the angular position between the hose connection 1 andthe longitudinal axis 4 of the coupler head a torque will appear inaddition to the traction force and will act on the coupler head 2. Asviewed in FIG. 1, this torque will cause the coupler head 2 to pivot inthe clockwise direction. The load on the arm 8 will therefore beincreased and will bring about a definite disengagement of the couplerdevice as soon as the tension force exerted on the line connection 1exceeds a certain predetermined value.

In order to position precisely the coupler head 2 with respect to thelevel of the automatic line coupler 18 the arm 8 may be provided with avertically downwardly projecting extension 28 positioned close to and infront of the abutment surface 12. The extension 28 will rest on a loweredge 29 of the opening 25 when the coupler device is coupled to anautomatic central line coupler as shown in the drawings.

When it is desired to couple the coupling device of the presentinvention to a railway vehicle equipped with the usual sleeve aircouplers, the coupler head 2 with its sealing ring 6 is pressed on theline opening of the air coupler and subsequently pivoted so that theradial closure guides and 16 will lockingly engage the correspondingclosure guides on the air coupler. Thus, the coupling operation iscarried out in the same manner as in the case of two ordinary orconventional sleeve or manually operated air couplers.

Two coupler heads 2 of two connector line couplings can also be equippedtogether by means of the closure guides 15 and 16. The closure guides 16of the two coupler heads function in the same manner as the closureguides of two sleeve air couplers and are mutually interconnected.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the automatic central line coupler may also beprovided with structure for coupling two additional lines. This iscustomary for automatic central line couplers and central buffercouplings are presently employed. The coupling lines in the automaticline coupler are positioned vertically above each other. The couplerhead 2 as described above is particularly suited for coupling to theline 17 which is positioned at the central level of an automatic linecoupler. However, if the coupler head 2 is to be coupled to a line 31positioned below the central line it may be necessary to modify theposition of the closure guide 16. One such modification may comprisemounting the closure guide 16 rigidly to arm 8 in a position displacedwith respect to the arm 8 by approximately 118 degrees and to supportthe closure guide 16 and arm 8 jointly on the coupler head 2 so thatboth elements are pivotable about the longitudinal axis 4. In the caseof coupling to a automatic line coupler, the closure guide 16 can bethen rotated into a position covering closure guide 15 in which it doesnot obstruct any coupling operation with respect to an automatic linecoupler. When the positions of the two closure guides 15 and 16 aresuperposed, the arm 8 will project from coupler head 2 diametricallywith respect to the arm '1.

If the coupler device as described above is coupled to a sleeve aircoupler or to a similar coupling device the closure guide 16 will bepivoted back to its original position and the arm 8 will then be rotatedabout the axis 4 toward the arm 7. This has the advantage that whencoupled the arms 7 and 8 will project from coupler head 2 only in anapproximately single direction so that the prescribed relationships canbe readily observed because of the small requirement of space of thecoupler device when it is coupled. This is particularly true withrespect for the ground clearance of the vehicle which is not decreasedsince in this arrangement the coupling devices no longer have an arm orextension projecting vertically downwardly.

Thus it can be seen that the present invention has disclosed a couplingdevice for connecting lines to a railway vehicle equipped with either ofdifferent line couplers. The coupler device may also be connected to asimilar coupling device. The present coupler device has only a minimumnumber of parts which must be positioned together to complete a couplingoperation. All of the components necessary for the coupling operationare carried by the coupling device and it is not necessary to store orto insert any additional elements when the coupler device is to becoupler. Further, no additional coupling operations must be performedduring or prior to the actual coupling procedure. In addition, theconstruction of the coupling device including the angular connection ofa line to the coupling device provides for an automatic uncouplingshould excessive tension forces be exerted on coupled lines in the eventthe railway vehicles should become uncoupled. The present invention alsoprovides for coupling two or more lines to a railway vehicle equippedwith an automatic line coupler having a plurality of lines or to aconventional manually operated air coupler.

It is understood that this invention is susceptible to modification inorder to adapt it to different usages and conditions and, accordingly,it is desired to comprehend such modifications within the invention asmay fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for coupling an air line and the like to a railway vehicleequipped with a manually operated line coupler having radial closureguides or equipped with an automatic central line coupler having a lineopening partially surrounded by guide flanges and being closed by apivotably mounted protection flap spring biased into the closedposition, the automatic line coupler being disposed in an air couplingpassage and the line opening being at substantially the coupler level,said device comprising a substantially cylindrical coupler head attachedto an air line and having an opening which is substantiallyperpendicular to the axis of the coupler head, means disposed aroundsaid opening for sealingly connecting said coupler head opening toanother line opening, first and second diametrically opposed armsprojecting radially outwardly from said coupler head, the ends of saidarms engageable with openings in the wall of said coupling passage whensaid device is coupled to an automatic central line coupler and engagingsurfaces adjacent said wall openings with said surfaces facing away fromsaid coupling device, said surfaces being at substantially the samelevel as the axis of the coupler head, said first arm having a stopthereon projecting toward the line opening of an automatic central linecoupler, said stop having a lateral surface directed away from theautomatic central line coupler and supporting said protection flap inits open position, said second arm having a shoulder with an abutmentsurface thereon substantially parallel to the axis of the automaticcentral line coupler with said abutment surface engaging a side wall ofthe opening receiving the end of said second arm, and a pair of radialclosure guides on said body and engageable with the guide flanges on anautomatic central line coupler, said radial closure guides being shapedand spaced to correspond to the radial closure guides of a manuallyoperated coupler.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second arm has adownwardly projecting extension perpendicular thereto, said extensionresting upon the edge of the wall opening receiving said second arm whenthe device is coupled to an automatic central line coupler.

3. A device as claimed in claim I wherein said second arm has arearwardly directed abutment surface on that portion of the armengageable with a surface adjacent the wall opening receiving saidsecond arm,

said abutment surface extending obliquely outwardly and forwardly withrespect to said opening.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the air line attached to saidcylindrical coupler head is inclined with respect to the axis of theline opening on the automatic central line coupler.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said radial closureguides on said body is pivotable about the axis of the line opening inan automatic central line coupler through an angle of about 6. A deviceas claimed in claim 5 wherein said one radial closure guide and saidsecond arm are pivotable about the axis of the line opening of theautomatic central line coupler.

1. A device for coupling an air line and the like to a railway vehicle equipped with a manually operated line coupler having radial closure guides or equipped with an automatic central line coupler having a line opening partially surrounded by guide flanges and being closed by a pivotably mounted protection flap spring biased into the closed position, the automatic line coupler being disposed in an air coupling passage and the line opening being at substantially the coupler level, said device comprising a substantially cylindrical coupler head attached to an air line and having an opening which is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the coupler head, means disposed around said opening for sealingly connecting said coupler head opening to another line opening, first and second diametrically opposed arms projecting radially outwardly from said coupler head, the ends of said arms engageable with openings in the wall of said coupling passage when said device is coupled to an automatic central line coupler and engaging surfaces adjacent said wall openings with said surfaces facing away from said coupling device, said surfaces being at substantially the same level as the axis of the coupler head, said first arm having a stop thereon projecting toward the line opening of an automatic central line coupler, said stop having a lateral surface directed away from the automatic central line coupler and supporting said protection flap in its open position, said second arm having a shoulder with an abutment surface thereon substantially parallel to the axis of the automatic central line coupler with said abutment surface engaging a side wall of the opening receiving the end of said second arm, and a pair of radial closure guides on said body and engageable with the guide flanges on an automatic central line coupler, said radial closure guides being shaped and spaced to correspond to the radial closure guides of a manually operated coupler.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second arm has a downwardly projecting extension perpendicular thereto, said extension resting upon the edge of the wall opening receiving said second arm when the device is coupled to an automatic central line coupler.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said second arm has a rearwardly directed abutment surface on that portion of the arm engageable with a surface adjacent the wall opening receiving said second arm, said abutment surface extending obliquely outwardly and forwardly with respect to said opening.
 4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein the air line attached to said cylindrical coupler head is inclined with respect to the axis of the line opening on the automatic central line coupler.
 5. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein one of said radial closure guides on said body is pivotable about the axis of the line opening in an automatic central line coupler through an angle of about 180* .
 6. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said one radial closure guide and said second arm are pivotable about the axis of the line opening of the automatic central line coupler. 